Pankow | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 52°34′N13°24′E / 52.567°N 13.400°E | |
Country | Germany |
State | Berlin |
City | Berlin |
Subdivisions | 13 localities |
Government | |
• Borough Mayor | Cordelia Koch (Greens) |
Area | |
• Total | 103.07 km2 (39.80 sq mi) |
Population (2023-12-31) [1] | |
• Total | 424,307 |
• Density | 4,100/km2 (11,000/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
Vehicle registration | B |
Website | berlin.de/ba-pankow |
Pankow (German: [ˈpaŋkoː] ) is the most populous and the second-largest borough by area of Berlin. In Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, it was merged with the former boroughs of Prenzlauer Berg and Weißensee; the resulting borough retained the name Pankow. Pankow was sometimes claimed by the Western Allies (United States, United Kingdom, and France) to be the capital of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), while the German Democratic Republic itself considered East Berlin to be its capital.
The borough, named after the Panke river, covers the northeast of the city region, including the inner city locality of Prenzlauer Berg. It borders Mitte and Reinickendorf in the west, Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg in the south, and Lichtenberg in the east. Pankow is Berlin's largest borough by population and the second largest by area (after Treptow-Köpenick).
Between 1945 and 1960, Schönhausen Palace and the nearby Majakowskiring street in the Niederschönhausen locality of Pankow was the home to many members of the East German government. Western writers therefore often referred to Pankow as a metonym for the East German regime—as reflected by Udo Lindenberg's song Sonderzug nach Pankow . The fact that "-ow" is rare as an ending for place names in West Germany and – especially in the wrong but common pronunciation /'pankof/ – sounds Slavic or more specifically "Russian" to German ears may have played a role in this use as it carried a connotation of the East German government being a foreign, more specifically Russian/Soviet, puppet regime — a claim right leaning newspapers and politicians often made much more openly than through this mere insinuation and connotation.
The Rykestrasse Synagogue, Germany's largest synagogue, is located in the Prenzlauer Berg locality. The Weißensee Cemetery is one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Europe. In northern Prenzlauer Berg, the Wohnstadt ("residential town") Carl Legien is part of the Berlin Modernist Housing Estates UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Weißer See is the borough's largest natural body of water.
The Pankow borough consists of 13 localities:
The governing body of Pankow is the district council (Bezirksverordnetenversammlung). It has responsibility for passing laws and electing the city government, including the mayor. The most recent district council election was held on 26 September 2021, and the results were as follows:
Party | Lead candidate | Votes | % | +/- | Seats | +/- | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alliance 90/The Greens (Grüne) | Cordelia Koch | 56,349 | 24.7 | 4.1 | 16 | 4 | |
The Left (LINKE) | Sören Benn | 44,351 | 19.4 | 1.6 | 12 | 1 | |
Social Democratic Party (SPD) | Rona Tietje | 38,984 | 18.1 | 3.0 | 11 | 1 | |
Christian Democratic Union (CDU) | Denise Bittner | 28,165 | 12.3 | 0.4 | 8 | ±0 | |
Alternative for Germany (AfD) | Daniel Krüger | 17,822 | 7.8 | 5.5 | 5 | 3 | |
Free Democratic Party (FDP) | Thomas Enge | 13,241 | 5.8 | 1.9 | 3 | 1 | |
Tierschutzpartei | 6,053 | 2.7 | New | 0 | New | ||
Die PARTEI | 5,310 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0 | ±0 | ||
dieBasis | 4,236 | 1.9 | New | 0 | New | ||
Volt Germany | 3,980 | 1.7 | New | 0 | New | ||
The Greys | 3,429 | 1.5 | New | 0 | New | ||
Free Voters | 2,315 | 1.0 | New | 0 | New | ||
Klimaliste | 1,885 | 0.8 | New | 0 | New | ||
Renters' Party | 1,523 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 0 | ±0 | ||
Ecological Democratic Party | 459 | 0.2 | New | 0 | New | ||
Valid votes | 228,102 | 99.3 | |||||
Invalid votes | 1,561 | 0.7 | |||||
Total | 229,663 | 100.0 | 55 | ±0 | |||
Electorate/voter turnout | 310,049 | 74.1 | 7.3 | ||||
Source: Elections Berlin |
The district mayor (Bezirksbürgermeister) is elected by the Bezirksverordnetenversammlung, and positions in the district government (Bezirksamt) are apportioned based on party strength. Sören Benn of The Left was elected mayor on 27 October 2016. Since the 2021 municipal elections, the composition of the district government is as follows:
Councillor | Party | Portfolio | |
---|---|---|---|
Sören Benn | LINKE | District Mayor Economy, Finance, Staff and Logistics | |
Cordelia Koch | GRÜNE | Deputy Mayor Social Affairs, Health and Planning | |
Rona Tietje | SPD | Urban Development and Civil Service | |
Manuela Anders-Granitzki | CDU | Public Order, Streets, Green Spaces and Environment | |
Cornelius Bechtler | GRÜNE | Youth | |
Dominique Krössin | LINKE | Education, Sport and Culture | |
Source: Berlin.de |
Pankow's road network is characterised by three radial axes to and from the city centre at Alexanderplatz - all of them running in a north/north-eastern direction: B96a (Schönhauser Allee/Berliner Straße), B109 (Prenzlauer Allee/Prenzlauer Promenade) and B2 (Greifswalder Straße/Berliner Allee). B109 leads to A114; Pankow is also the only borough in Berlin which is directly served by the Berliner Ring A10.
The ring roads of Danziger Straße (within the Berlin S-Bahn circle line) and Ostseestraße - Wisbyer Straße - Bornholmer Straße also of high importance.
Pankow is served by the S-Bahn lines S1, S2, S25, S26, S41, S42, S8 and S85. The northeastern part of the Berlin S-Bahn circle line is located in Pankow, which includes the stations of Storkower Straße, Landsberger Allee, Greifswalder Straße, Prenzlauer Allee and Schönhauser Allee. Bornholmer Straße station and Wollankstraße station border the borough of Mitte, while Schönholz station and Wilhelmsruh station border Reinickendorf. The Stettiner Bahn serves Pankow, Pankow-Heinersdorf, Blankenburg, Karow and Buch.
In addition to the S-Bahn, five U-Bahn stations are located in the borough of Pankow: Senefelderplatz, Eberswalder Straße, Schönhauser Allee, Vinetastraße and Pankow. At Schönhauser Allee and Pankow, travellers can change to S-Bahn services.
Prenzlauer Berg is a locality of Berlin, forming the southerly and most urban district of the borough of Pankow. From its founding in 1920 until 2001, Prenzlauer Berg was a district of Berlin in its own right. However, that year it was incorporated into the greater district of Pankow.
The Berlin tramway is the main tram system in Berlin, Germany. It is one of the oldest tram networks in the world having its origins in 1865 and is operated by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), which was founded in 1929. It is notable for being the third-largest tram system in the world, after Melbourne and St. Petersburg. Berlin's tram system is made up of 22 lines that operate across a standard gauge network, with almost 800 stops and measuring almost 190 kilometres (120 mi) in route length and 430 kilometres (270 mi) in line length. Nine of the lines, called Metrotram, operate 24 hours a day and are identified with the letter "M" before their number; the other thirteen lines are regular city tram lines and are identified by just a line number.
Berlin is both a city and one of Germany's federated states. Since the 2001 administrative reform, it has been made up of twelve districts, each with its own administrative body. However, unlike the municipalities and counties of other German states, the Berlin districts are not territorial corporations of public law with autonomous competencies and property, but simple administrative agencies of Berlin's state and city government, the City of Berlin forming a single municipality since the Greater Berlin Act of 1920. Thus they cannot be equated to US or UK boroughs in the traditional meaning of the term.
Weißensee is a quarter in the borough of Pankow in Berlin, Germany, that takes its name from the small lake Weißer See within it. Before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform, Weißensee was a borough in its own right, consisting of the quarters of Weißensee, Heinersdorf, Blankenburg, Karow, and Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow. A fictional German-language TV series by the same name is set in the borough between 1980 and 1990 during the communist era.
Märkisches Viertel is a German locality (Ortsteil) in the borough (Bezirk) of Reinickendorf in Berlin. Its name refers to the March of Brandenburg.
The S86 was a line number used by the Berlin S-Bahn.
The S10 was a line number used by the Berlin S-Bahn from June 1991 until December 1999. The line operated solely in the former East Berlin and was replaced by the S8 for the northern part of the route and the S47/S9 for the southern routing.
Berlin Bornholmer Straße is a railway station in the Prenzlauer Berg district of Berlin, Germany. It is served by the Berlin S-Bahn and the M13 and 50 lines of the Berlin Straßenbahn.
Heinersdorf is a locality in the borough of Pankow in Berlin, Germany. It is located close to the centre of Pankow.
Pankow is a locality (Ortsteil) of Berlin in the district (Bezirk) of Pankow. Until 2001 it was an autonomous district with the localities of Karow, Niederschönhausen, Wilhelmsruh, Rosenthal, Blankenfelde, Buch and Französisch Buchholz.
Reinickendorf is a locality of Berlin in the borough of Reinickendorf. It had a population of 83,972 in 2020.
Gesundbrunnen is a locality (Ortsteil) of Berlin in the borough (Bezirk) of Mitte. It was created as a separate entity by the 2001 administrative reform, formerly the eastern half of the former Wedding district and locality. Gesundbrunnen has the highest percentage of non-German residents of any Berlin locality, at 35.1% as of the end of 2008.
Prenzlauer Allee is a major avenue in the Prenzlauer Berg district of the German capital Berlin and one of the main thoroughfares of the north-eastern Pankow borough. The arterial road connects the centre of former East Berlin at Alexanderplatz via Karl-Liebknecht-Straße with the far north-eastern districts and the orbital motorway Berliner Ring via the Bundesautobahn 114.
Französisch Buchholz, also known simply as Buchholz, is a German locality (Ortsteil) within the Berlin borough (Bezirk) of Pankow.
Fennpfuhl is a German locality (Ortsteil) in the borough (Bezirk) of Lichtenberg, Berlin. With a population of 30,932 (2008) in an area of 2.12 km2 (0.82 sq mi), it is the second most densely populated locality in Berlin (14,591/km²) after Friedenau.
Stadtrandsiedlung Malchow is a German locality within the Berlin borough of Pankow. Until 2001 it was part of the former Weißensee borough.
Karow is a German locality (Ortsteil) within the Berlin borough (Bezirk) of Pankow. Until 2001 it was part of the former Weißensee borough.
Blankenburg is a German locality (Ortsteil) within the borough (Bezirk) of Pankow, Berlin. Until 2001 it was part of the former borough of Weißensee.
Wilhelmsruh is a German locality (Ortsteil) within the borough (Bezirk) of Pankow, Berlin. It is the city's smallest locality, after Halensee and Hansaviertel.
Schönhauser Allee in Berlin is one of the most important streets of the Prenzlauer Berg district.